Sunday, February 22, 2009

ENGADGET - iPoint 3D brings gesture-based inputs to 3D displays

ENGADGET

iPoint 3D brings gesture-based inputs to 3D displays


Just in case you've been parked out under a local stone for the past six months and change, we figured it prudent to let you know that the 3D bandwagon has totally regained momentum. So much momentum, in fact, that the brilliant minds over at Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft have decided to bust out a 3D innovation that actually makes us eager to sink our minds into the elusive third dimension. The iPoint 3D, which we're hoping to get up close and personal with at CeBIT next week, is a technology that enables Earthlings to interact with a 3D display via simple gestures -- all without touching the panel and without those style-smashing 3D glasses. The gurus even go so far as to compare their creation to something you'd see in a science fiction flick, with the heart of it involving a recognition device (usually suspended above the user) and a pair of inbuilt cameras. There's no mention of just how crazy expensive this would be if it were ready for the commercial realm, but we'll try to snag an estimated MSRP for ya next week.

[Via Physorg]


FIJI TIMES - Everything in 3D


Copyright © 2009, Fiji Times Limited. All Rights Reserved.


Everything in 3D

 (Sunday, February 22, 2009)

Movie: My Bloody Valentine 3D

Director: Patrick Lussier

Writing credits: Todd Farmer, Zane Smith

Starring: Jensen Ackles, Jaime King, Kerr Smith, Megan Boone, Betsy Rue, Kevin Tighe

Now showing: Village Six

Rated: R18

Genre: Horror, thriller, suspense

Rating: out of five

Believe it or not, this was my first 3D (three-dimensional) movie at the cinemas and even though I gave it a three out of five rating - gruesome scenes were nasty - the 3D experience was exhilarating and mind blowing.

Off I went to Village Six with senior Fiji Times writer Irene on Tuesday to catch the 12.50pm show.

We were given our 3D glasses as we passed the ticket booth and were shown to our numbered seats, somewhere in the seventh row.

The lights dimmed and the movie attendant advised us to put on our 3D glasses. This was it. I was more anxious about the effects of 3D rather than the movie - I read a few bad reviews about the movie beforehand but that didn't stop me from enjoying the special effects of 3D.

The first few scenes gave a brief about the murderous miner Harry Warden, one of six miners trapped after a collapse in the mine.

Harry is left in a coma after five other miners were killed by a pickaxe more than a decade ago. The following year, he wakes from the coma on Valentine's Day and goes on a killing spree first at the hospital then the abandoned mineshaft where he finds youngsters partying like nobody's business.

Dressed in his miner's garb, Harry kills everyone except King, Smith and Rue who escape a narrow death.

Ackles, on the other hand, is trapped inside and comes face to face with Harry, staring into the bug-eyed mask with fear.

He escapes Harry's wrath with the help of local authorities.

Ackles skips town and returns 10 years later on Valentine's Day to take care of family business - selling the mine among other things.

But the terror begins when bodies turn up axed and cut just the way Harry did and Ackles soon becomes the prime suspect.

But Harry's dead body is not in his grave like the old sheriff thought and the town lives in fear of another massacre.

As the movie progresses, new suspects begin to emerge.

There's the new sheriff, Smith who is now married to King.

He spends a lot of time trying to pin the murders on Ackles. I thought this was a form of deception used in murder movies to conceal the real killer.

Then the creepy Deputy Martin who constantly has looks that run shivers down the spine. He does pretty good facial expressions that scream 'I might be the killer'.

There's angry miners looking to settle the score with Ackles because of the mine closure and the disgruntled mine manager.

My Bloody Valentine 3D is a remake of the 1981 Canadian hit of the same name.

Only this time, most of the action happens right in front or your eyes. Believe me, there was a 3D scene I was impressed with - a bullet right past the face like in Smallville.

It came so close I could reach out and grab it just like C.K but all I could do was let out a low "wow" as it curved past. I hoped only Irene could hear that little kaicolo word.

My feet leapt from the ground a couple of times and an occasional 'shoot' blurted out whenever a nerve shocking scene came on.

There were instances where props made the movie less than perfect and scary - a toy-looking mine and dummy victims covered in blood.

But all in all, the effects of 3D were too good and it was good to note the improvement and development in technology. My first 3D movie will always be a memory because I came so close to touching the infamous Harry Warden's pickaxe.

My Bloody Valentine 3D has added humour to calm the scared nerves but it's a thriller that has heaps of graphic scenes, violence and nudity.

Don't say I didn't warn you.


Copyright © 2009, Fiji Times Limited. All Rights Reserved.


DAILY STAR - UK Feb 22, 09 3-D FILMS ARE STAND-OUT SUCCESS

DAILY STAR - UK

3-D FILMS ARE STAND-OUT SUCCESS

DAILY STAR SUNDAY
ABOVE: Steven Spielberg's Monsters vs Aliens will lead the way for 3-D movies
22nd February 2009

By Mike Parker in Los Angeles

DON'T duck...Hollywood is going 3-D, with at least ten new films due to leap out of cinema screens this year.


Fans got a taster when studios spent $3million showcasing the format at this month's Superbowl.

And movie maker Pixar has already announced all its future films will use the new hi-tech process.

The first 3-D blockbuster should be Steven Spielberg's Monsters vs. Aliens, starring Brit Hugh Laurie, Kiefer
Sutherland and Reese Witherspoon. It opens here on April 3.

But some lucky movie fans have already had a 3-D treat with Bolt, a tale about a dog that thinks it's a superhero.

The movie was released in the new format at 100 UK screens.

Titanic director James Cameron's sci-fi epic Avatar – starring Sigourney Weaver – and the Disney/Pixar action
comedy Up are also due later in 2009.

There will also be special 3-D sequences in two big summer sequels – Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince
and Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen – showing at IMAX cinemas.

The original 3-D exploded on to the Hollywood scene in 1953 in films such as It Came From Outer Space but fizzled
out when people complained the blue and red glasses they had to wear gave them headaches.

The new 3-D method also uses specs but Spielberg's DreamWorks partner Jeffrey Katzenberg promised: "You will feel like you will be able to reach out and touch it."

And over the next two years even such classics as Citizen Kane will get 3-D updates.